Learning To Play

     Did you know that there's an instrument we all play? And further more, did you know that we even play it every day? It's probably the most difficult instrument to learn; thousands upon thousands of notes, chords and keys.

     Life.
   
     This is the instrument we play. I've been playing it for 18 years, and I'm nowhere near close to having it perfected. I've hit way too many sour notes to count, but practice makes perfect, and even if you do hit a note that's not quite right, to keep on playing is your best choice.
     Life has a funny way of sitting in the corner and gathering dust if we don't practice and play it every day. It sits alone and we walk past it; we do our work around it - sometimes we barely even glance at it. It's something we have to work at and strive for every day. There's no getting around it. If you don't, you've wasted so much you could have had. You either leave it sitting, or you pick it up and play.
  
    I hope desperately that you decide to play.

Favorite Ever

This has got to be my favorite Garfield comic ever...

Love ~

One Note at a Time

Adding one note at a time to my 'Jar of Good Things', and it's filling up quickly. Funny how many memories you can make out of the small details in just 30 days.

I Need...

To just breathe and relax and drink a hot cup of tea and chill out for a little while and get my thoughts and nerves back in place.
Whew ~

Yeah, that's what I need to do.

Snow, Snow, Everywhere

So... this is what I woke up to this morning.
Snow.
Piles and piles of snow.
Ten whole inches of snow.

It's very pretty, but is melting fast. I just came inside maybe 30 minutes ago from sledding all morning, and am now happily settled here in my favorite hoodie, neon-green Skittles socks, and a wonderful mug of steaming hot chocolate in front of me. (It's delicious - thanks, mom!)
As much as I'm enjoying this feeling, I can't help but be a little disappointed, because tonight we were supposed to go to our church in Wytheville and spend time with friends, and then bring three of the guys home to have a sleep over for Nathan's Birthday (which is today, by way of announcement.) EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. this happens. My brother was BORN on a dark and stormy night, and from hence forth, t'was cursed, because there's always a snow storm and his birthday has to be delayed. (I honestly don't know why we plan stuff then...)

ANYWAY - yes, the snow is beautiful. No, I'm not too thrilled that we had to cancel everything. However, the plans will carry on next Friday, so I shall enjoy the snow while I can. :)

Here's some pictures from our escapade this morning...

Devious Duo

Something Special

     I saw this idea on Pinterest, and have decided to take it up...
     At the beginning of the year, you take a jar and throughout the year, fill it with little pieces of paper with moments you have found special written on them. An idea I'd suggest to go with this is carry a little notebook with you so you can scribble them down while they're fresh in your mind, no matter where you are. And at the end of the year, you open it up and go through everything inside; it's a good way to not only let you're mind relive some of those moments, but to remind you of God's little gifts to us, things we tend to forget.
     It's a jar full of captured moments from 2013, and I'm going to give it a try.

- hannah

(I also took a magazine clipping and used it on the outside of the jar; it adds a nice effect. :)

Beauty in the Day

Have you ever stopped to look for the beauty that surrounded you in one little day? Sometimes it's kind of hard to find... you have to look hard for it - but it's there. The small things that we discover are reminders from God that He loves us, and He gives us these small, often overlooked gifts to tell us that.
Find something beautiful today and take a picture of it; keep it to remind you of the wonderful things He puts around us.

- hannah